melk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2000
That may have been me. I usually don’t read series either but I’m really looking forward to the third book coming out in October. I’m waitlisted at my library, hopefully it won’t take forever.
Annual Reading Challenge--2020
- Thread starter willowsnn3
- Start date
That may have been me. I usually don’t read series either but I’m really looking forward to the third book coming out in October. I’m waitlisted at my library, hopefully it won’t take forever.
Colleen27
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
#86/156 - The Years That Matter Most by Paul Tough
This was a fascinating, if somewhat scattered, critique of how our educational system serves to consolidate and validate privilege at the expense of talented students from lower income and disadvantaged setting. The writing is a good mix of data and policy points and anecdotes that put a human face to the statistics, and the individuals highlighted in the narrative aren't a uniform parade of success against all odds stories but rather more of a cross section of the lived experience of trying to overcome the obstacles the system places in the way of students who don't come from educated, supportive homes. Tough also looked at efforts to change some of the underlying trends he reported on, some successful, some not, and how and why they work (or don't), which added a hopeful dimension to a rather downbeat overarching theme.
#87 - The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
This was not at all what I expected from the blurb on Hoopla! This was a moving portrayal of the plight of the poor, particularly poor women, in Victorian England, told through deeply researched biographies of the five women killed by Jack the Ripper. It was dry at times, with very detailed geographical descriptions that didn't mean much to me as someone who has never set foot in London, but also heartbreaking and distressing. And one of the core themes was a challenge to the stories we've all heard about Jack the Ripper as a killer of prostitutes; of the five women, the author found little or no evidence of prostitution in the accounts of four of their lives.
#88 & 89 - The Wallflower Wager and The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare
A couple of trashy Regency romances as a much-needed break from more serious reading - with the return to school, I'm working on learning Italian and starting a chapter-by-chapter reading of A People's History with my middle schooler - because I just felt like a bit of fluff. I've read a few of Dare's other historicals in the past and enjoyed them, and these were likewise quick, fun reads with quirky heroines and fascinating heroes. There are two other books in the series and I'll probably get around to those too at some point.
This was a fascinating, if somewhat scattered, critique of how our educational system serves to consolidate and validate privilege at the expense of talented students from lower income and disadvantaged setting. The writing is a good mix of data and policy points and anecdotes that put a human face to the statistics, and the individuals highlighted in the narrative aren't a uniform parade of success against all odds stories but rather more of a cross section of the lived experience of trying to overcome the obstacles the system places in the way of students who don't come from educated, supportive homes. Tough also looked at efforts to change some of the underlying trends he reported on, some successful, some not, and how and why they work (or don't), which added a hopeful dimension to a rather downbeat overarching theme.
#87 - The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
This was not at all what I expected from the blurb on Hoopla! This was a moving portrayal of the plight of the poor, particularly poor women, in Victorian England, told through deeply researched biographies of the five women killed by Jack the Ripper. It was dry at times, with very detailed geographical descriptions that didn't mean much to me as someone who has never set foot in London, but also heartbreaking and distressing. And one of the core themes was a challenge to the stories we've all heard about Jack the Ripper as a killer of prostitutes; of the five women, the author found little or no evidence of prostitution in the accounts of four of their lives.
#88 & 89 - The Wallflower Wager and The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare
A couple of trashy Regency romances as a much-needed break from more serious reading - with the return to school, I'm working on learning Italian and starting a chapter-by-chapter reading of A People's History with my middle schooler - because I just felt like a bit of fluff. I've read a few of Dare's other historicals in the past and enjoyed them, and these were likewise quick, fun reads with quirky heroines and fascinating heroes. There are two other books in the series and I'll probably get around to those too at some point.
willowsnn3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
Supposed to be a third one coming out soon if not already.
willowsnn3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
#47/60 Into Bones Like Oil by Kaaron Warren
People come to The Angelsea, a rooming house near the beach, for many reasons. Some come to get some sleep, because here, you sleep like the dead. Dora arrives seeking solitude and escape from reality. Instead, she finds a place haunted by the drowned and desperate, who speak through the sleeping inhabitants. She fears sleep herself, terrified that the ghosts of her daughters will tell her “it’s all your fault we’re dead.” At the same time, she’d give anything to hear them one more time.
Not my cup of tea. Only 80 pages so I did finish it.
People come to The Angelsea, a rooming house near the beach, for many reasons. Some come to get some sleep, because here, you sleep like the dead. Dora arrives seeking solitude and escape from reality. Instead, she finds a place haunted by the drowned and desperate, who speak through the sleeping inhabitants. She fears sleep herself, terrified that the ghosts of her daughters will tell her “it’s all your fault we’re dead.” At the same time, she’d give anything to hear them one more time.
Not my cup of tea. Only 80 pages so I did finish it.
drwitz
Living the dream in Florida!
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2008
I heard an interview with the author and the book and premise sounds fascinating. Good to know you recommend it I will add it to my list and after I'm done I would love to discuss it.
Swimnoid
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 28, 2003
22. Moriarity by Anthony Horowitz
From Goodreads: Riveting and deeply atmospheric, Moriarty is the first Sherlock Holmes novel sanctioned by the author's estate since Horowitz's House of Silk. This tale of murder and menace breathes life into Holmes's fascinating world, again proving that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however im- probable, must be the truth.
Fun read!
23. The Bullet by Mary Louise Kelley
From Goodreads: Caroline Cashion, a professor of French literature at Georgetown University, is stunned when an MRI reveals that she has a bullet lodged near the base of her skull. It makes no sense: she has never been shot. She has no entry wound. No scar. When she confronts her parents, they initially profess bewilderment. Good!
24. Miss Dreamsville and the Lost Heiress of Collier County by Amy Hill Hearth
Second in a series of a small town and it's book club. sounds dull but they get into all kinds of trouble. Fun read!
25. One Mile Under by Andrew Gross
From Goodreads: In New York Times bestselling author Andrew Gross's propulsive thriller, set amid the drought-stricken oil country of Colorado's beautiful high plains, Ty Hauck makes his long-awaited return rallying beaten-down farmers and ranchers against a giant energy company in a deadly confrontation involving murder, retaliation, and cover-up. Good!
26. Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson
From Goodreads; C. P. Ellis grew up in the poor white section of Durham, North Carolina, and as a young man joined the Ku Klux Klan. Ann Atwater, a single mother from the poor black part of town, quit her job as a household domestic to join the civil rights fight. During the 1960s, as the country struggled with the explosive issue of race, Atwater and Ellis met on opposite sides of the public school integration issue. Their encounters were charged with hatred and suspicion. In an amazing set of transformations, however, each of them came to see how the other had been exploited by the South's rigid power structure, and they forged a friendship that flourished against a backdrop of unrelenting bigotry.
The movie, Best of Enemies, was based on this book. However the story of CP Ellis and Ann Atwater is only a small part of the book. This is a pretty detailed history of what happened during this time of integration. Very interesting!
27. The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Saana
From Goodreads: A memorable coming-of-age story and love story, laced with suspense, which explores a hidden side of the home front during World War II, when German POWs were put to work in a Wisconsin farm community . . . with dark and unexpected consequences.
Good!!
28. The Other Einstein by marie Benedict
From Goodreads: In the tradition of The Paris Wife and Mrs. Poe, The Other Einstein offers us a window into a brilliant, fascinating woman whose light was lost in Einstein's enormous shadow. It is the story of Einstein's wife, a brilliant physicist in her own right, whose contribution to the special theory of relativity is hotly debated and may have been inspired by her own profound and very personal insight. Interesting!
29. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
I read this before watching the Netflix series. A teenage girl commits suicide but leaves a series of tapes to be read by people involved in her life.
30. Carrying Albert Home: A Somewhat True Story of a Man, His Wife and Her Alligator by Homer Hickam
From Goodreads: Elsie Lavender and Homer Hickam (the father of the author) were high school classmates in the West Virginia coalfields, graduating just as the Great Depression began. When Homer asked for her hand, Elsie instead headed to Orlando where she sparked with a dancing actor named Buddy Ebsen (yes, that Buddy Ebsen). But when Buddy headed for New York, Elsie’s dreams of a life with him were crushed and eventually she found herself back in the coalfields, married to Homer. Very funny!
31. The Shack by William Paul Young
From Goodreads: Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he find there will change his life forever.
Thought invoking
32. What Doesnt Kill Her by Carla Norton
From Goodreads: From the acclaimed author of The Edge of Normal, a riveting new thriller in which the heroine must confront her former tormentor who has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane good!
33. Radiant Angel by Nelson DeMille
Seventh installment of the John Corey thriller series. good
34. Love Gently Falling by Melody Carlson
From goodreads: Rita Jansen is living her dream as a hairstylist in Hollywood when her father calls with news that her mother has suffered a stroke. When she gets home to Chicago, Rita finds her mother is healing but facing a long recovery. Worse, without being able to run their family-owned salon, her mother could lose the business. Rita decides to help, but she only has until Valentine's Day to come up with a plan. nice feel good novel
35. Come Hell or Highball by Maia Chance
From Goodreads: In this Prohibition-era caper, society matron Lola Woodby agrees to recover a stolen film reel for its rightful owner, but before she can retrieve it, the man in possession of the reel is killed
A fun little change of pace
From Goodreads: Riveting and deeply atmospheric, Moriarty is the first Sherlock Holmes novel sanctioned by the author's estate since Horowitz's House of Silk. This tale of murder and menace breathes life into Holmes's fascinating world, again proving that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however im- probable, must be the truth.
Fun read!
23. The Bullet by Mary Louise Kelley
From Goodreads: Caroline Cashion, a professor of French literature at Georgetown University, is stunned when an MRI reveals that she has a bullet lodged near the base of her skull. It makes no sense: she has never been shot. She has no entry wound. No scar. When she confronts her parents, they initially profess bewilderment. Good!
24. Miss Dreamsville and the Lost Heiress of Collier County by Amy Hill Hearth
Second in a series of a small town and it's book club. sounds dull but they get into all kinds of trouble. Fun read!
25. One Mile Under by Andrew Gross
From Goodreads: In New York Times bestselling author Andrew Gross's propulsive thriller, set amid the drought-stricken oil country of Colorado's beautiful high plains, Ty Hauck makes his long-awaited return rallying beaten-down farmers and ranchers against a giant energy company in a deadly confrontation involving murder, retaliation, and cover-up. Good!
26. Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson
From Goodreads; C. P. Ellis grew up in the poor white section of Durham, North Carolina, and as a young man joined the Ku Klux Klan. Ann Atwater, a single mother from the poor black part of town, quit her job as a household domestic to join the civil rights fight. During the 1960s, as the country struggled with the explosive issue of race, Atwater and Ellis met on opposite sides of the public school integration issue. Their encounters were charged with hatred and suspicion. In an amazing set of transformations, however, each of them came to see how the other had been exploited by the South's rigid power structure, and they forged a friendship that flourished against a backdrop of unrelenting bigotry.
The movie, Best of Enemies, was based on this book. However the story of CP Ellis and Ann Atwater is only a small part of the book. This is a pretty detailed history of what happened during this time of integration. Very interesting!
27. The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Saana
From Goodreads: A memorable coming-of-age story and love story, laced with suspense, which explores a hidden side of the home front during World War II, when German POWs were put to work in a Wisconsin farm community . . . with dark and unexpected consequences.
Good!!
28. The Other Einstein by marie Benedict
From Goodreads: In the tradition of The Paris Wife and Mrs. Poe, The Other Einstein offers us a window into a brilliant, fascinating woman whose light was lost in Einstein's enormous shadow. It is the story of Einstein's wife, a brilliant physicist in her own right, whose contribution to the special theory of relativity is hotly debated and may have been inspired by her own profound and very personal insight. Interesting!
29. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
I read this before watching the Netflix series. A teenage girl commits suicide but leaves a series of tapes to be read by people involved in her life.
30. Carrying Albert Home: A Somewhat True Story of a Man, His Wife and Her Alligator by Homer Hickam
From Goodreads: Elsie Lavender and Homer Hickam (the father of the author) were high school classmates in the West Virginia coalfields, graduating just as the Great Depression began. When Homer asked for her hand, Elsie instead headed to Orlando where she sparked with a dancing actor named Buddy Ebsen (yes, that Buddy Ebsen). But when Buddy headed for New York, Elsie’s dreams of a life with him were crushed and eventually she found herself back in the coalfields, married to Homer. Very funny!
31. The Shack by William Paul Young
From Goodreads: Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he find there will change his life forever.
Thought invoking
32. What Doesnt Kill Her by Carla Norton
From Goodreads: From the acclaimed author of The Edge of Normal, a riveting new thriller in which the heroine must confront her former tormentor who has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane good!
33. Radiant Angel by Nelson DeMille
Seventh installment of the John Corey thriller series. good
34. Love Gently Falling by Melody Carlson
From goodreads: Rita Jansen is living her dream as a hairstylist in Hollywood when her father calls with news that her mother has suffered a stroke. When she gets home to Chicago, Rita finds her mother is healing but facing a long recovery. Worse, without being able to run their family-owned salon, her mother could lose the business. Rita decides to help, but she only has until Valentine's Day to come up with a plan. nice feel good novel
35. Come Hell or Highball by Maia Chance
From Goodreads: In this Prohibition-era caper, society matron Lola Woodby agrees to recover a stolen film reel for its rightful owner, but before she can retrieve it, the man in possession of the reel is killed
A fun little change of pace
willowsnn3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
#48/60 Thin Ice by Paige Shelton
From Goodreads:
Beth Rivers is on the run - she's doing the only thing she could think of to keep herself safe. Known to the world as thriller author Elizabeth Fairchild, she had become the subject of a fanatic's obsession. After being held in a van for three days by her kidnapper, Levi Brooks, Beth managed to escape, and until he is captured, she's got to get away. Cold and remote, Alaska seems tailor-made for her to hideout.
Beth's new home in Alaska is sparsely populated with people who all seem to be running or hiding from something, and though she accidentally booked a room at a halfway house, she feels safer than she's felt since Levi took her. That is, until she's told about a local death that's a suspected murder. Could the death of Linda Rafferty have anything to do with her horror at the hands of Levi Brooks?
As Beth navigates her way through the wilds of her new home, her memories of her time in the van are coming back, replaying the terror and the fear--and threatening to keep her from healing, from reclaiming her old life again. Can she get back to normal, will she ever truly feel safe, and can she help solve the local mystery, if only so she doesn't have to think about her own?
This is the first in a new series by Paige Shelton (a new author to me). I thought it was pretty good. Kinda slow paced, humorous at times, no bad language/explicit sex/extreme violence and did leave me wanting to follow up when the next one comes out.
From Goodreads:
Beth Rivers is on the run - she's doing the only thing she could think of to keep herself safe. Known to the world as thriller author Elizabeth Fairchild, she had become the subject of a fanatic's obsession. After being held in a van for three days by her kidnapper, Levi Brooks, Beth managed to escape, and until he is captured, she's got to get away. Cold and remote, Alaska seems tailor-made for her to hideout.
Beth's new home in Alaska is sparsely populated with people who all seem to be running or hiding from something, and though she accidentally booked a room at a halfway house, she feels safer than she's felt since Levi took her. That is, until she's told about a local death that's a suspected murder. Could the death of Linda Rafferty have anything to do with her horror at the hands of Levi Brooks?
As Beth navigates her way through the wilds of her new home, her memories of her time in the van are coming back, replaying the terror and the fear--and threatening to keep her from healing, from reclaiming her old life again. Can she get back to normal, will she ever truly feel safe, and can she help solve the local mystery, if only so she doesn't have to think about her own?
This is the first in a new series by Paige Shelton (a new author to me). I thought it was pretty good. Kinda slow paced, humorous at times, no bad language/explicit sex/extreme violence and did leave me wanting to follow up when the next one comes out.
willowsnn3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
Thanks! Our internet/cable was out at home for almost 2 weeks
and have been super busy at work so could only sneak online there a few minutes at a time, lol. But I did get a little bit more reading time out of it, lol.
Tiggerish
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
Clouds in My Coffee by Julie Mulhern. One of a series called The Country Club Murders. It was a murder mystery where the narrator is a trust fund baby who runs in a circle of mostly rich friends. I got it as a free down load and do not need to read anything else in the series.
A Doctor's Promise by Laura Scott. The first book in the Lifeline Air Rescue Series. Christian romance novel with happy ending.
The Book Of Joe B by Michael Winn. A retelling of the story of Job from the Old Testament. Joe B. is a high school gym teacher who suffers an ongoing series of unfortunate loss and afflictions. He also has a trio of unhelpful friend just like Job. It is not a believable story but it was an interesting take on the Job story.
83 Baumstrasse by Nasrin Namdar. WWII fiction. The title is the address of an apartment building in Hamburg, Germany. The book tells to story of how its residents weather the war including an Jewish family. It was interesting to see the different points of view of the residents.
59-62 of 80
A Doctor's Promise by Laura Scott. The first book in the Lifeline Air Rescue Series. Christian romance novel with happy ending.
The Book Of Joe B by Michael Winn. A retelling of the story of Job from the Old Testament. Joe B. is a high school gym teacher who suffers an ongoing series of unfortunate loss and afflictions. He also has a trio of unhelpful friend just like Job. It is not a believable story but it was an interesting take on the Job story.
83 Baumstrasse by Nasrin Namdar. WWII fiction. The title is the address of an apartment building in Hamburg, Germany. The book tells to story of how its residents weather the war including an Jewish family. It was interesting to see the different points of view of the residents.
59-62 of 80
Simba's Mom
<font color=green>everything went to "H*** in a ha
- Joined
- Aug 26, 1999
Update time!
39/56-In for a Penny-3 stars-I expected a cozy mystery, complete with murder but no murder. If I'd known this going in, I probably would have liked it more.
40/56-"Winter in Paradise", Elin Hildebrand-4 1/2 stars. First book in a series of 3, and although I generally don't like trilogy, this left my anxious to read the other two books.
41/56-The Secret Messenger-3 stars. Historical Fiction
42/56-"What happens in Paradise-Elin Hildebrand's second book in the trilogy-4 stars-now I have to wait for the third book, since it isn't published yet. These are not stand-alone reads, but IMO, well worth it.
The book I'm reading now, "The Resistance Women" is 650 pages long, so I don't know how many I'll read this month!
39/56-In for a Penny-3 stars-I expected a cozy mystery, complete with murder but no murder. If I'd known this going in, I probably would have liked it more.
40/56-"Winter in Paradise", Elin Hildebrand-4 1/2 stars. First book in a series of 3, and although I generally don't like trilogy, this left my anxious to read the other two books.
41/56-The Secret Messenger-3 stars. Historical Fiction
42/56-"What happens in Paradise-Elin Hildebrand's second book in the trilogy-4 stars-now I have to wait for the third book, since it isn't published yet. These are not stand-alone reads, but IMO, well worth it.
The book I'm reading now, "The Resistance Women" is 650 pages long, so I don't know how many I'll read this month!
melk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2000
31/25 How to Be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward
The youngest daughter of a wealthy family goes missing, never found. Fifteen years later her sister is convinced she’s still alive and searches for her.
Overall I liked it, didn’t love it. It was somewhat suspenseful, good story. But I wanted more from the ending.
The youngest daughter of a wealthy family goes missing, never found. Fifteen years later her sister is convinced she’s still alive and searches for her.
Overall I liked it, didn’t love it. It was somewhat suspenseful, good story. But I wanted more from the ending.
bobbiwoz
I'm happy to dance with you!
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2003
69/80. The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
Excellent! It’s two stories. One takes place in 1875 when throughout the south the column “Lost Friends” told the story of former slaves who were trying to find family. The other story takes place in 1987, and it wraps the first story up.
Excellent! It’s two stories. One takes place in 1875 when throughout the south the column “Lost Friends” told the story of former slaves who were trying to find family. The other story takes place in 1987, and it wraps the first story up.
luvmarypoppins
<font color=darkorchid>I am debating whether to pu
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2003
14/30 - If Not For Thee by Amber Lynn Perry - novella set in Upstate New York during the Revolutionary War
15/30 - Accidental Target by Theresa Lynn Hall - Romantic suspense with drug cartel and dirty cops.
16/30 - Plain Refuge by Dana Lynn - Illegal gun dealing. Uncle trying to kill nieces. Amish twist.
15/30 - Accidental Target by Theresa Lynn Hall - Romantic suspense with drug cartel and dirty cops.
16/30 - Plain Refuge by Dana Lynn - Illegal gun dealing. Uncle trying to kill nieces. Amish twist.
Last edited:
willowsnn3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
#49/60 They Almost Always Come Home by Cynthia Ruchti
From Goodreads:
When Libby's husband Greg fails to return from a two-week canoe trip to the Canadian wilderness, the authorities soon write off his disappearance as an unhappy husband's escape from an empty marriage and unrewarding career. Their marriage might have survived if their daughter Lacey hadn't died . . . and if Greg hadn't been responsible. Libby enlists the aid of her wilderness savvy father-in-law and her faith-walking best friend to help her search for clues to her husband's disappearance...if for no other reason than to free her to move on. What the trio discovers in the search upends Libby's presumptions about her husband and rearranges her faith.
I enjoyed this one. More of a faith based book than a mystery.
From Goodreads:
When Libby's husband Greg fails to return from a two-week canoe trip to the Canadian wilderness, the authorities soon write off his disappearance as an unhappy husband's escape from an empty marriage and unrewarding career. Their marriage might have survived if their daughter Lacey hadn't died . . . and if Greg hadn't been responsible. Libby enlists the aid of her wilderness savvy father-in-law and her faith-walking best friend to help her search for clues to her husband's disappearance...if for no other reason than to free her to move on. What the trio discovers in the search upends Libby's presumptions about her husband and rearranges her faith.
I enjoyed this one. More of a faith based book than a mystery.
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